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(No Model.)

E. NORTON 82: J. G. HODGSON. COMBINED SOLDER AND FLUX.

No. 400,869. Patsnted Apr. 2, 1889.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OEEICE.'

EDWIN NORTON AND JOHN G. I'IODGSON, OF ClIIt'AGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNORS TO SAID ED\VIN NORTON AND OLIVER \\I. NORTON, OF SAME PLACE.

COMBINED SOLDER AND FLUX.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters .'Patent No. 400,869, dated April 2, 1889.

Application filed April 5, 1886. Serial No.197,779. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, EDWIN NORTON and JOHN G. IIODGSON, citizens of the United States, residing in Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Combined Solder and Flux, of which the following' is a specification.

Our invention relates to improvements `n combined solder-wire and flux.

The object of the invention is to provide a combined solder wire and flux of a simple and practical construction, which may be easily and cheaply manufactured, and wherein the flux, in a powdered or other form, may be securely applied to the solder-wire or inclosed by such wire, so th at the flux will not be liable to be displaced from the wire.

To this end our invention consists in wiresolder furnished with its complement or required amount of iiux contained in a closed or partially-closed groove or channel made in the body of the solder-wire on the outside thereof. The partially-closed groove may be originally made of a dovetail shape, leaving just a sufficient slit or opening to apply the iiux; or the groove may be made with a wider mouth and closed entirely or partially after the fiuX is lfilled in.

B means of our combined solder-wire and iiux the flux and sold er may be simultaneously applied to the seam to be soldered wit-hout any danger of the flux being displaced or lost out at any portion of the wire, thus insuring perfect work.

The flux may consist of resin, paratline, stearine, boraX, or a-ny other suitable or known tluxing material. The iiux maybe applied in any suitable 1nanner-as, for example, by passing the wire-'solder furnished with a suitable groove on its periphery through aboX or vessel containing the iiuving material either in a powder or liquid form. The groove or channel or other recess for receiving the tlux may be conveniently formed in t-he wirensolder at the time of manufacture. There the wire-solder is produced by forcing the solder out through a die-as by a hydraulic press-- the die may be made of such form as to produce a suitable groove or channel in the wire. When the wire-solder is made by the common process of issuing a jet of molten. solder into a bath of water, the wire may be grooved to receive the flux in any suitable manner-as, for example, by passing it between die-rollers or other dies. After the groove or channel is charged with the iiux, powdered rosin being preferably used, the groove or channel is closed or partially closed by passing the wire through another die or pair of dies, so as to better retain the flux.

In the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specilieation, and in which similar letters of reference indicate like parts, Figure l shows a small coil of combined wiresolder and iiux embodying our invention. Fig. 2 shows a short piece of the wire solder as prepared ready to receive the linx. Fig. 3 shows the same after the channel or groove has been filled with the flux and partially closed. Figs. e and 5 arc end views of Figs. 2 and 3. Figs. G, 7 and S are end views showing different forms of grooves or channels for the reception of the iiux.

In said drawings, A represents a piece of wire-solder, and B the fluxing material with which it is provided. The solder-wire A is furnished with a groove or channelo which is iilled or partially illed with tluXing material, B, preferably resin in a powdered state. The groove or channel a, after the HuX is deposited therein, is closed or partially closed about the same, as shown in Fig. 3; or the channel may be originally made of a dovetail shape. The size of this channel will of course depend somewhat upon the size of the solderwire and upon the particular kind of iiuxing material employed. It should,however, be so proportioned that any given length or quantity will contain complementary or proper proportions of both solder and flux.

In Fig. S a number of smaller longitudinal channels or grooves are shown on the solderwire.

In Fig. the channel for the tlux consists of a central hole or bore in the solder-wire.

This form of our combined prepared solder and iiux may be formed by passing a thin fiat strip of solder through a die, which curves or laps it into cylindrical form as it issues; or it may be made in much the same way as ordinary lead pipe is made-that is, by forcing it out of a hydraulic press through a suitable die. The flux need not be applied at the same time the channel is formed in the solder-Wire, as the Wire maybe thus grooved, and the flux may then be applied to the solder in the machine or at the time the solder is used for soldering the seams. However, it is most convenient to apply the flux at the same time the channel for the same is formed. Where the flux-channel consists of a central bore, as

' A- Io shown in Fig. 9, the means of making' and tilling the same With flux Will be readily understood by those skilled in the art. lVhere the hollow-bore wire is formed by curving or laprvping-a thin ilat strip of solder into cylindrical form, as rst above indicated, the flux may be applied at the same time the channel is formed by means similar, for example, to that shown and described in Patent No. 275,408, of April l0, 1883, for covering electric cables em- 2o bedded in a rosin or insulating material with a lead or soft-m etal tube. AlVhere the hollowbore solder-wire is made like lead pipe by forcing' it out of a hydraulic press through a suitable die, as before mentioned, the liuX may be applied at the time the channel or bore is formed by the Well-known means employed for lling the lead covering-tubes of telegraph-cables with rosin or insulating material-such, for example, as is shown and der 3o scribed in Patents No. 233,970, of November 2, 1880, or No. 288,795, of November 20, 1883. By our invention the solder and flux are applied simultaneously to the joint to be soldered, thus greatly saving time and labor 3 5 Where the operations are performed by hand,

and-=greatly simplifying the construction and operation of the machines where it is done automatically or by machinery. lt also furnishes a convenient method of applying rosin 4o and other fluxes of a like character in soldering-machines wherein heretofore acid fluxes have been generally used.

, By our invention the flux is made in th form of a lament, and is thus as conveniently applied to the seam as the solder itself when in a iilamentary or Wire form. The lilament of flux being combined with the solder :filament or Wire, the iluxing and soldering operations, Whether done by hand or by machinery, become one and the same.

In addition to the saving of time and labor, the combining of solder and its flux for simultaneous use has the following' obvious advantages over a separate application, viz.: First, economyless flux is required, as none is wasted; second, neatness-the surface of the l tin is not distigured by being smeared With y superfluous flux, and, third, more satisfactory Work may be done, as the iuX is not evaporated or burned off by the heat before the solder is applied.

XVe claiml. Tire-solder provided with an outside groove or channel, a flux in said grooveor channel, said groove or channel being closed or partially closed about said uX, substantially as specified.

2. Tire-solder provided with an outside dovetail-shaped groove or channel formed in l the body of the Wire for containingI flux, sub` stantially as specilied.

3. Flexible solder-Wire provided with a continuous longitudinal bore containing flux, whereby the flux is retained in place therein, substantially as specified.

EDWIN NORTON. JOHN G. HODGSON.

y Witnesses:

H. M. MUNDAY, EDMUND ADoocK. 

